The Story of Orpheus and Eurydice
by Beevle
Summary: This is a retelling of the story of Orpheus' journey to the underworld to bring back Eurydice, and all his sorrows. It's told from Orpheus' POV. I hope you like it!
1. Chapter 1

**Authors Note: **I wrote this for a research paper. It's a retelling of the story of Orpheus and Eurydice. It's in Orpheus' POV. I got a 95 on the paper.

**Disclaimer: **You might notice I borrowed the first sentence from Bulfinch's verision of the story. Because of the first person narrative of this story, and to better understand what happened to Orpheus, the part of the story included the beautiful lines (in quotation marks, also marked with an asterisk) from _Bulfinch's Mythology: The Age of Fable. _ The next "Chapter" is just another part of the research paper. If you care. 

**The Story of Orpheus and Eurydice **

I am the son of Apollo and the Muse Calliope. You could say I had a lot to live up to. My father gave me the lyre, in hopes that I would have inherited some of mother's musical skills. He figured at least someof her talent could have gotten to me. He had me taught how to play it. I worked hard, wanting to please both him and my mother.

My worked paid off. I put all my feeling into my music. I played with all my heart, and it's been said that even the rocks and the trees stop to listen when I play and sing. I don't know about that, but I know I had finally found something I enjoyed doing. My mother could look on me with pride, and my father was delighted.

One day I met Eurydice. She was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. I played songs about her, and for weeks I was lovesick.

Hymenaeus, the god of marriage, married us later. I couldn't have been happier.

But my happiness was short-lived. I spent all my time with Eurydice, I wanted to be with her forever, and I didn't want her out of my sight. I didn't know what I would do if I lost her. The gods wouldn't be so cruel.

I suppose they might have wanted to test my love for her, because after only a few weeks of our marriage, Eurydice went to pick flowers. She laughed at my worries for her, and left with some of her sisters.

I knew that some were jealous and looked upon my wife with covetous eyes, but I did not know they would go as far as to chase her down. But as she was picking flowers, Aristaeus, a shepherd who had taken notice of Eurydice before, saw her. He chased her, and she ran. Her sisters told me of how she fell, and a serpent bit her foot.

I think that, even though I was miles away, I knew when she died. I had a feeling of dread, but I told myself I was just dreaming of things. When her sisters stumbled to me, crying, I ran to the fields. In despair as I held her body, I swore I would get her back.

I traveled far for her, going to the underworld. The gods had not yet tested me enough, because as I traveled into the underworld, I was greeted by Cerberus, a dog with three heads. I calmed the dog and myself as I took out my lyre, singing a soothing song. I passed the dog unharmed.

Many had come before me and attempted to bring back their loved ones, and failed. I knew this, and I was determined to bring Eurydice back, or die trying.

I made my way to Hades, listening to shocked whispers all the way. When I saw Hades and his wife Persephone, I trembled as I made a small bow. I looked back up into Persephone's face, and, seeing her cold, indifferent eyes, I knew I had to do my best. And if my best wasn't good enough, then perhaps I was not worthy of Eurydice.

There was no other way I could show them my love for her except to play.

I once again, took my lyre out. I played it with all the love I had for Eurydice, the joy of our marriage, and the ultimate grief of being parted from her.

By the time I was done, Persephone was in tears, and even Hades' eyes glinted. Everything was quiet. The Furies wept with me for Eurydice.

"Tantalus, in spite of his thirst, stopped for a moment his efforts for water; Ixion's wheel stood still; the vulture ceased to tear the giant's liver; the daughters of Danaus rested from their task of drawing water in a sieve; and Sisyphus sat on his rock to listen."

They beckoned to bring Eurydice out. I stretched my neck from my place on the floor for one glimpse of my love. But before she came out, the gods held my gaze. They said they would allow me to bring Eurydice home, but only if I trusted that she was with me. I wasn't allowed to look at her until I was out of the underworld. If I did, she would die a second time, and I would not be able to rescue her again.

I was impatient to see her, but since I had waited so long, a bit longer wouldn't hurt. I turned and went to the entrance. I eagerly waited until I heard steps behind me. We journeyed out of the underworld together. I knew she limped from her wound, and I waited every few steps until I heard her slight step, her hard breathing. I could feel her near me.

I got out, and joyfully turned to embrace Eurydice. But I realized she had not quite gotten out of the underworld, and I ran to hang on to her. I cried out as I saw tears streaming down her face, and I did not get to hold her before she faded away, to die yet again.

I found I couldn't go back to the underworld, something was holding me back.

I wandered for days after that, not eating, not sleeping, just playing my lyre. I despaired, knowing that if I had waited for just a moment, she might have been mine once again.

My song echoed everywhere. There was no place it did not breach.

I didn't know some Thracian maidens were reveling in wine and dance nearby, and, hearing my songs, they came to me. I turned from their advances, thinking only of my Eurydice.

They didn't like this. Taking up javelin and rocks, they threw things at me. I sang louder and sweeter than ever, and their weapons fell harmlessly at my feet. But soon they screamed, drowning out the sounds that protected me so faithfully. Soon I was dead. Blood soaked me, and sweetly embraced me. Guilt and sorrow were washed away, and I didn't have to think anymore.

My body is buried at Libertha; my lyre by Jupiter, among the stars. My spirit is surrounded by those I love, and those who love me.

Some say my story is a sad one. But they're wrong. Because my life is where Eurydice is. And I will never again be parted from her.


	2. Explanations and Theories

Explanations & Theories

**Genealogy**: The Muse Calliope, Orpheus' mother, was one of the most famous and eloquent of muses. Apollo, among other things, was god of the lyre and poetry. Ironically, Apollo was also the son of a nymph. Orpheus was the grandson of Jupiter, which is probably why his lyre was placed there after his death.

**Orpheus' death**: There are many different ways the story of Orpheus and Eurydice is told. Some tell of Orpheus dying because, after Eurydice's "second death", he sang so sadly, and "held himself aloof from womankind", that some Thracian maidens threw stones and javelin at him and he died. Thomas Bulfinch's version says, "The muses gathered up the fragments of his body and buried them at Libertha, where the nightingale is said to sing over his grave more sweetly than in any other part of Greece". Some say that he committed suicide.

**The Serpent: **In the story of Orpheus and Eurydice, a serpent bites Eurydice's foot. Either the serpent was poisonous, or it was a large one, because it seems like a small thing to kill Eurydice so quickly. One definition of a python, a kind of serpent, is "A soothsaying spirit or demon; a person possessed by such a spirit". This serpent could have been a symbol for Aristaeus' attack on Eurydice when she was picking the flowers. So it could have meant anything, not only an actual bite on her foot by a serpent. Also, it could be coincidence, but it was said that Apollo (Orpheus' father) had killed a serpent at Delphi. So it seems the serpent is a symbol often used in Greek mythology.

**Versions: **With some versions of this story, the story simply stops after Orpheus comes out of the underworld empty-handed, while others continue to tell of how he dies and, according to Thomas Bulfinch's _Orpheus and Eurydice_, "his shade passed a second time into Tartarus, where he sought out his Eurydice and embraced her with eager arms".

**Themes: **There could be many reasons and/or themes of this story, why it was written. It could be a subject of time. If Orpheus had held back for a few moments, he might have lived a long life with Eurydice. In the end, Orpheus spends eternity with Eurydice. It could also be death, and love. Eurydice dies, and Orpheus goes to the place where death is, Eurydice dies again, and then Orpheus dies, and they end up together anyway.

**The Furies: **The thing that is so spectacular about the Furies weeping at Orpheus' song is that they were considered extremely stern. The Furies were the spirits who punished wrongdoers. As in Bulfinch's version of the story, "Then for the first time, it is said, the cheeks of the Furies were wet with tears".

**The power of Orpheus' song: **Obviously, if Orpheus' music calmed a three-headed dog, then it was very powerful. It's been said that the effect of Orpheus' song was to lead man to love. This is why even Hades and Persephone were in tears. In Thomas Bulfinch's story, it tells of how, after Orpheus arrives from the underworld without Eurydice, the Thracian maidens throw things at him. At first they don't hit him, because he was playing his lyre. "The weapon, as soon as it came within the sound of his lyre, fell harmless at his feet….But the women raised a scream and downed the voice of the music, and then the missiles reached him and soon were stained with blood." As the story heightens, so does Orpheus' maturity. In many different versions, it tells of how he first searches the Heavens and "planets" for Eurydice, _before _he goes to the Underworld. Orpheus didn't inherit all of his musical talents. It was said that on his journey, he learned much about music that allowed him to be able to bring the gods and others in the underworld to tears.


End file.
